Entertainment journalist Nikki Fowler, who had been serving as the President of the Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) during a challenging period for the organization, has resigned from both her position and the group responsible for producing the HCA Awards due to a “hostile, biased and dismissive” work environment.
In a memo first obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Fowler wrote to the HCA’s board stating that, “for my own well-being I am stepping away.”
Read Fowler’s memo to the membership below:
Dear All,
Sorry for the late hour as I am on France time.
Please accept my resignation as President and as a member of HCA due to what I deem at times, in my opinion, a hostile, biased and dismissive executive work environment not in alignment with the original duties offered when elected President last year. As a woman in leadership, I attempted to assist the organization on many variables with many being dismissed which included calling for proper formation since last year, committees, spearheading sales, bias training and accountability on harassment. For my own well being I am stepping away.
This will not take away from the lovely people I have met in this organization.
Wishing you the best.
Regards,
Nikki Fowler
Last year, several members of the Hollywood Critics Association, including Clayton Davis, Variety’s senior awards editor, and two other journalists from the publication, resigned from the organization. The decision came after a critic who had raised concerns about the HCA’s finances, fundraising distribution, and operations was expelled and subsequently made her grievances public.
The controversy has resulted in a divide both inside and outside of the Hollywood Critics Association, which was established in 2016 as an offshoot of the Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society. With over 100 members, the organization was initially created to provide a platform for bloggers, YouTubers, and other multimedia journalists who were not associated with mainstream media outlets. As a result, the group is naturally more diverse than traditional circles of critics.
